The Lincoln Center Theater world premiere of John Guare's A Free Man of Color has delayed Broadway previews to Oct. 23. The sprawling work about a modern day Don Juan in 1801 New Orleans was to begin performances Oct. 21 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

Jeffrey Wright
Photo by Aubrey Reuben

Representatives state that further technical time is needed with the physical elements of the play, which shifts its setting across the globe from New Orleans, to Haiti, to Napoleon's court as the world begins to change. Tony-winning director George C. Wolfe directs A Free Man of Color, which will open as originally scheduled Nov. 18.

Lincoln Center also delayed the start of Broadway previews for the new musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in order to allow additional technical rehearsals for the scenic elements for that production, which officially opens Nov. 4.

According to LCT, "A Free Man of Color is a freewheeling epic set in 1801 New Orleans. Jacques Cornet, the title character, is a new world Don Juan and the wealthiest inhabitant of this sexually charged and racially progressive city. Jacques thinks all is well in his paradise until history intervenes, setting off a chain of events which no one, much less this free man of color, realizes is about to splinter the world."

The production has set design by David Rockwell, costume design by Ann Hould-Ward, lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, sound design by Scott Stauffer, original music by Jeanine Tesori and choreography by Hope Clarke. The Public Theater had originally been attached to produce Guare's latest play (with Wolfe attached to direct), but budgeting constraints forced the organization to cancel its plans for the large-scale work. A Free Man of Color marks Guare's return to LCT after his plays The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, Four Baboons Adoring The Sun and Chaucer in Rome all received their premieres there. The play will mark Wolfe's LCT debut.

Guare's plays include Six Degrees of Separation, House of Blue Leaves, Four Baboons Adoring the Sun, Landscape of the Body and the book to the musical Sweet Smell of Success. He earned Tony Awards for the book and lyrics to the 1971 musical Two Gentleman of Verona.